This month’s selection features thrilling rarities and a conductor’s final bow

JS Bach Goldberg Variations Marcin Swiatkiewicz (piano) Rubicon RCD1064

These Goldbergs are full of energy and spontaneity. Swiatkiewicz’s frequent use of the 16-foot stop lends many of the variations a magnificent Thuringian heft. (OC) ★★★★

Brahms Horn Trio; Cello Sonata No. 1 etc Alec Frank-gemmill (horn) BIS BIS-2478

Fascinating to hear new colours in a familiar work, with Brahms’s First Cello Sonata transcribed for French horn. It makes a fine prelude to a terrific performance of the Horn Trio. ( JP) ★★★★

Bruckner Mass No. 2; Te Deum Collegium Vocale Gent Phi LPH 034 Bruckner’s intricate counterpoint and rich orchestrations make for seductive, powerful listening, especially in the Te Deum which bursts with harmonic colour. Herreweghe and his musicians give invigorating and beautifully balanced accounts. (OC) ★★★★

Chausson • Ravel Piano Quartet; Piano Trio Trio Machiavelli

Berlin Classics 0301417BC

Ravel’s muchloved trio is given a wonderfully sprightly outing here, with an immaculate balance between the three instruments. The less familiar Chausson quartet makes a very welcome companion. (JP) ★★★★

Fauré Piano Quartets

Fauré Quartett Berlin Classics 0301422BC Fauré’s piano quartets are among his most inventive and passionate works. Ravishing performances of both by the Fauré Quartett are complemented by gorgeous chamber arrangements of a handful of songs. (OC) ★★★★

Gershwin • Harbison • Tower Orchestral Works

National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic Naxos 8.559875 Gershwin’s Piano Concerto and Piston’s Fifth Symphony feature in this album of American orchestral works. Vibrant and fun, though the Gershwin could be more virtuosic. (FP) ★★★★

M Haydn Missa Sancti Nicolai Tolentini etc St Albans Cathedral Girls Choir et al Naxos 8.574163 Largely upbeat, though not without its more reflective moments, Michael Haydn’s mass enjoys a spirited performance here, though a more robust choral sound would have been welcome. (JP) ★★★

Rael Jones Mother Echo

Rael Jones (piano) et al

Silflay Records 195448590630

Written from a very personal place, Rael Jones’s pieces for piano and string quartet are filled with deep emotion and great beauty. It left me enchanted; I’ll play it again and again. (MB) ★★★★★

Kancheli Poetry of Silence Ketevan Sepashvili (piano) et al Gramola 99235

Melodic miniatures by the late Georgian composer taken from scores for theatre and film. A rather lovely set, performed with delicate beauty by Sepashvili and flautist Temo Kharshiladze. (MB) ★★★★

Martin Kohlstedt FLUR

Martin Kohlstedt (piano)

Warner Classics 9029518132

Kohlstedt turns inward for this collection of meditative numbers to chime with the current mood. There are some inspired moments, but the dampened piano becomes wearing after a while. (OC) ★★★

Kvandal A Quiet Beauty

Lina Johnson (soprano), Arnfinn Tobiassen (organ) LAWO LWC 1203 There’s a winning simplicity to Kvandal’s songs for soprano and organ, sung here with graceful ease by Lina Johnson and interspersed with characterful short organ works. (JP) ★★★

Scott Lee Through the Mangrove Tunnels JACK Quartet et al Panoramic Recordings PAN20

Lee’s album-length work races through vastly different musical styles. Inspired by his visit to the swamps in Florida, this is a knotty, discombobulating adventure. (FP) ★★★★

Jonathan Leshnoff Symphony

No. 3; Piano Concerto etc

Kansas City Symphony Reference FR739 Unashamedly lyrical music, and that’s fine by me. The Third Symphony packs an emotional punch thanks in part to its First World

War inspiration; the soulful Piano Concerto enthrals. (MB) ★★★★

Novák South Bohemian Suite etc Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra Naxos 8.574226

Novák’s rich Romanticism rarely gets a look in beyond his familiar Slovak Suite, making this an especially welcome release. The colourfully atmospheric Toman and the Wood Nymph is a particular treat. (JP) ★★★★

Prokofiev Visions fugitives

(arr. violin and piano) etc

Yuri Kalnits (violin), Yulia Chaplina (piano) Toccata Classics TOCC0135

A treasure trove of richly melodic short works, reimagined for piano and violin. Beautiful, hearty performances and a fulsome recorded sound make this hugely enticing. (MB) ★★★

Steve Reich Eight Lines, City Life Holst-sinfonietta/klaus Simon

Naxos 8.559682

Classic Reich tackled with grit and a clear understanding of the music, notably in the roughness of the multi-tracked flutes in Vermont Counterpoint. (FP) ★★★

P teris Vasks Distant Light; Lonely Angel Daniel Rowland (violin); Stift Festival Orchestra Challenge Classics CC 72830

Vasks’s desolate, contemplative soundworld seems all too appropriate for current times. Rowland captures the spirit with aplomb here. ( JP) ★★★★

An Armenian Palette

Works by Chebotarian, Mansurian et al Heik Melikyan (piano) Grand Piano GP845

Folksong flavours this album of Armenian piano music, whether in Chebotarian’s melancholy Six Preludes, Mirzoyan’s joyful Album for a Granddaughter or even Mansurian’s avant-garde Three Pieces. (OC) ★★★★

The Art of Agony Works by Grainger, Louise Denson et al Viney-grinberg Duo Naxos 8.579075 This album includes eight premiere recordings, most commissioned by the duo themselves, using electronics to great effect. The title track blends speech by Grainger with music mimicking his speech patterns. (FP) ★★★

In Motion Works by Schubert, Hindson et al United Strings of Europe, et al BIS BIS-2529

Virtuosic performances and a compelling programme from the string orchestra plus guests; Matthew Hindson’s Maralinga is a powerful and evocative highlight. (MB) ★★★

Mariss Jansons – His Last Concert Works by Brahms and R Strauss Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra BR Klassik 900192

There’s something rather moving about the lengthy applause and cheers which follow the Hungarian Dances, an encore to what would end up being Jansons’s final bow. Fine playing throughout. (MB) ★★★★

Orchestral Favourites Bizet,

Elgar, Holst et al Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Brilliant 96146

This four-disc set is a great resource, taking in Elgar’s Enigma, Sibelius’s Finlandia and Parry’s Jerusalem. Despite occasional dragging tempo, a fun journey through orchestral pops. (FP) ★★★

Piano Music by Chopin, Liszt et al Paul Ji (piano) Warner 9029515859

An accomplished programme of Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and more, designed to accompany us through the pandemic. Ji’s tone is sometimes a little hard-edged, but this is a charming idea. (OC) ★★★

Songs of Comfort and Hope Arrangements by Tom Poster, Caroline Shaw et al

Yo-yo Ma (cello), Kathryn Stott (piano) Sony Classical 19439822372

Yo-yo Ma and Kathryn Stott present a lovely selection of comforting songs in arrangements which somehow avoid the music becoming saccharine. Delicately and thoughtfully played. (FP) ★★★★

Voices in the Wilderness A Cappella Hymns

Elizabeth Bates (soprano) et al

Bright Shiny Things BSTC-0141

Some of the earliest music to be written in America, this collection of 18th-century hymns was recorded at the site of their conception in Pennsylvania.

The result is rather captivating. (MB) ★★★

Reviewers: Michael Beek (MB),

Oliver Condy (OC), Freya Parr (FP), Jeremy Pound (JP)